Morality high on Waldron’s agenda

For David Waldron, the People’s Party for Democracy and Development (PdP) candidate in the upcoming St George North by-election, morality is just as important as all the national issues discussed during the campaign.

Barbados TODAY caught up with the political hopeful as he was canvassing on Thursday, ahead of the November 11 by-election.

The PdP’s moral position is reflected in its posters plastered across the constituency, bearing the slogan A Vote for BLP is a Vote for Same-sex Marriage.

A campaign against same-sex marriage was sparked by the announcement by Governor General Dame Sandra Mason, in the Throne Speech in September, that the Government was prepared to recognise a form of civil unions for couples of the same gender, but would not allow same-sex marriages unless that was put before a referendum.

“I was raised in a Barbados where the moral fabric of this country meant something to the people of Barbados. Maintaining this moral fabric means something to me. It means something to the PdP,” Waldron said.

“I have heard the Prime Minister speak about the population needs boosting by about 85 000 people. How can same-sex marriage boost the population? We can’t say in one breath the population is diminishing and still encourage same-sex unions. Same-sex unions will not impact on population increase. That is how I will speak on same-sex marriage. People mix up same-sex marriages with issues that are completely different to same-sex.”

He stated categorically that same-sex marriage is wrong.

“The same-sex situation should not happen. It should not become law in Barbados. I understand that we will have persons that will be different,” he said.

The PdP candidate, who has a keen interest in farming, charged that some of the imported food being consumed by Barbadians may be the cause of some of the immoral behaviour.

“When you eat meat that is imported, [was the animal] fed hormones? Are these animals fed estrogen that would then feed back into the system of people and cause men to be effeminate and cause women to have fibroids, and cause women to have ovarian cancer and breast cancer?” he questioned.

“It all comes back down to the food we eat. Some people who are behaving differently, we call them names but very often it isn’t their fault. They are being fed food that is changing them hormonally and that is one of the factors that we must consider.”

Waldron sought to make it clear that the issues he advanced were brought to him by the people.

“Barbadians, in general, have done well morally for a long time. When that comes under threat, people are complaining. As I move around, 99 per cent of persons that I would have met are staying strong on this same-sex issue. They are saying to me ‘I ain’t ’bout that’. I am representing people, I am not representing myself. Suppose I had a different view altogether? At the end of the day it is about the people. When I speak, I speak about the issues people bring to me,” he said.

When asked about Barbados traditionally being a two-party state and whether he believed he could be successful running for an alternative political party, Waldron said he was confident the electorate wanted change.

“We are in a climate where things that are not usual or normal are happening. The reality is the status quo is changing and as that changes, people will change with it. People have become accustomed to a two-party state but if you have two parties, and from one to the other all you are seeing is a debt being built up on people’s backs, on our backs, our children’s backs, people are worried,” he said.

“They are concerned about the debt situation in Barbados. People are looking for solutions. People want change. People want change that can be meaningful and helpful to them.”